NEW YORK – On Friday night, senior standout Kyle Merber set a new school record in the 1,500m run and nine Columbia track student-athletes recorded some of the best outdoor times in the nation.

At the 38th annual Stanford Invitational, Merber clocked a 3:42.49 in the 1,500m run, beating the Jeff Moriarty’s 2010 school record by one hundredth of a second. That time was the eighth-fastest collegiate mark at the event and should qualify Merber for the NCAA Championships. Merber will run in the 800m on Saturday.

Juniors Mike Murphy, Emily Lanois and Caroline McDonough also ran some of the fastest times in school history out at Stanford in their respective events. Murphy’s time of 29:26.68 in the men’s 10,000m run ranks second in school history. In the women’s 10,000m, Lanois ran a 33:53.06 and McDonough crossed the line in 34:07.90 – times that rank second and third in Columbia history, respectively. Those marks should qualify Murphy, Lanois and McDonugh for the NCAAs.

Columbia also had a slew of standout men’s distance performances on the first day of Princeton’s Sam Howell Invitational. John Gregorek ran the 3,000m steeplechase for the first time in his career and put up the fifth-best time in program history at 8:59.28, a time that should qualify him for the NCAAs. In the 1,500m, Daniel Everett ran a 3:46.97 (ninth in school history) and Adam Behnke clocked a 3:47.30. Both are times that stand among the best in the nation. In the 10,000m, Nico Composto had the fifth-best time in Columbia history (29.42.77) and Gary Brownell had the eighth-best (29.54.00) and both are in the picture for NCAAs.

3,000m Steeplechase
8:59.28 — John Gregorek (Sam Howell) –Fifth in School History

10,000m run
29:26.68 — Mike Murphy (Stanford) – Second in School History
29:42.77 – Nico Composto (Sam Howell) – Fifth in School History
29.54.00 – Gary Brownell (Sam Howell) – Eighth in School History